15 August: The National Mourning Day

August 15 is the National Mourning Day for Bangladesh. On the fateful night of August 15 in 1975, some disgruntled and over ambitious army officers assassinated Bangabandhu and most of his family members at his Dhanmondi, Road-32 residence in the capital.

18 members of Bangabandhu's family and his close ones who were brutally killed on that night include his wife Bangamata Fazilatunnessa Mujib, brother Sheikh Naser, brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabat, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and 10-year-old Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, nephew Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni& his pregnant wife Arzoo Moni and Bangabandhu's military secretary Bir Uttam Colonel Jamil who rushed to the spot of occurrence on receiving SOS from Bangabandhu Bhaban early in the morning.
However, both the daughters of Bangabandhu-- Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, escaped the carnage as they were abroad. Since the mayhem, Awami League, its associate bodies and other likeminded pro-liberation parties, social, cultural and professionals' organizations have been observing the day as the National Mourning Day.
In 1996, the Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina initiated trial of the self-confessed killers of Bangabandhu in a traditional court and the court awarded them with capital punishment, which was upheld by the country's apex court. The court's verdict for five of the self-confessed killers had been executed on January 27, 2010 while the government had already taken steps for bringing back home the remaining absconding killers from abroad.